# Get Google Maps listings as JSON with one API call

POST a business category and a location to /v1/run. RouterGrowth returns the Google Maps listings for that search as JSON: name, category, address, phone, website and domain, rating, review count, coordinates, place ID and whether the owner claimed the listing. One RouterGrowth key, no Google Cloud project.

HTML page: https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps/scraper-api
Part of: [Google Maps tools](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps.md)

## The call

[`local.places`](https://www.routergrowth.com/catalog/local.places): Businesses on Google Maps for a query and location: name, category, address, phone, website, rating and review count.

Price on this network: $0.0035 per search. The exact quote is shown before every run.

## What a real run returned

Run on 2026-10-19: 20 records in 5.0 s for $0.0035. Personal fields are masked. Climbing gyms in Denver: the run returned 20 listings, gyms mixed with an outdoor guide and a recreation center that match the search.

| name | category | rating | reviews_count | domain | claimed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Spot Bouldering Gym | Rock climbing gym | 4.9 | 233 | www.thespotgym.com | True |
| Übergrippen Indoor Climbing Crag - Denver | Rock climbing gym | 4.6 | 404 | ugclimbing.com | True |
| Tension Climbing | Rock climbing | 5 | 25 | www.tensionclimbing.com | True |

## How to do it

1. **Use your RouterGrowth key.** Send it as Authorization: Bearer. There is no Places API key or Google billing account.
2. **Write the location in full.** location as City,State,Country (Denver,Colorado,United States). The response shows the location it resolved.
3. **Parse result.places.** Each place has name, category, address, phone, website, domain, rating, reviews_count, place_id, latitude, longitude, claimed and position.
4. **Pass the place_id on.** reviews.search takes the place_id for that listing's recent reviews.

## Ask it like this

- Call local.places for climbing gyms in Denver, Boulder and Salt Lake City and merge the results by place_id. (`local.places`)
- For each gym under 4.5 stars, read its 10 latest reviews and tell me what people complain about. (`local.places`, `reviews.search`)

## Connect

MCP server: `https://api.routergrowth.com/mcp`

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http routergrowth https://api.routergrowth.com/mcp
```

```bash
npm install -g routergrowth && routergrowth setup
routergrowth run -c local.places -i '{"query": "climbing gym", "location": "Denver,Colorado,United States", "limit": 10}'
```

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.routergrowth.com/v1/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ROUTERGROWTH_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"capability": "local.places", "input": {"query": "climbing gym", "location": "Denver,Colorado,United States", "limit": 10}}'
```

## Worth knowing

- **Search results, not only exact matches.** The listings are what Google Maps shows for the search, so related places appear. Filter on category in your code.
- **Location is resolved for you.** location_resolved in the result says which city the search ran on, so a typo does not go unnoticed.
- **Priced per search.** local.places bills per search, and the catalog marks a search with no places as not billed.

## Questions

### Is this the Google Places API?

No. RouterGrowth is independent of Google. You call one API with one key and get Maps listings back as JSON.

### What does the JSON contain?

A run object with billing and timing, and result.places: one object per listing, plus query and location_resolved.

### How many places come back?

One page of listings per search. This run returned 20.

### Can I search outside the US?

Yes. Pass a city and country, a country alone, or a DataForSEO location code.

## Related

- [Scrape Google Maps from a Python script with requests](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps/scraper-python.md)
- [Scrape a business's Google Maps reviews without a browser](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps/reviews-scraper.md)
- [Turn a Google Maps search into a lead list with websites and phones](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps/lead-scraper.md)
- [Fetch the recent Google Maps reviews of any place through one API](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps/api-reviews.md)
- [A Google Maps scraper your agent runs: every business for a search, as rows](https://www.routergrowth.com/tools/google-maps/scraper.md)